Peace at Last
by Snow Illusion
Summary: All Hannah Abbott wants in the Second War against Voldemort is peace. A horrific and grueling look into the War, and how it affects the very psyche of Wizards and Witches.


Peace at Last  
  
Written by: Snow Illusion  
  
The wind ruffled the edge of her sea-green tent. It was always quiet before they struck. As if the world was holding it's breath; to see what would happened.  
  
The ear-splitting sonic explosion shook the very foundation of the Earth's crust. White hot light seeped through the cracks and illuminated horrific instruments and mangled bodies. She came here when it was too much to handle. When the War gripped her by the heart and squeezed. She needed to see why she was here, why she was fighting. But all the bodies ever brought was more misery and more agony, more questioning and wondering. Why were they all at war when it only brought death? How would this help at all?   
  
And where was this infamous Harry Potter? This Harry Potter that was supposed to be saving them all? The last she had heard of him she was at her house table, in her last year at Hogwarts. He was throwing potato salad at a friend of his with brilliant red hair. Every muscle in his face was uplifted in joy. Was he in joy, now? Was he sitting in some palace as his kind fought for him?   
  
Hannah Abbott didn't care. All that mattered was that whatever the hell he was doing wasn't making a difference. Her fingers lightly skimmed the edge of a cot, not touching the dead body it harbored. His eyes were open. Hannah shivered and closed them for him. Stained bandages clung to his graying forehead. Lungs that had once held the breath of life were now still. Fingers that had once held the warmth of blood were now stone cold. Hannah choked on her sobs and fell to the ground, her knees making contact with the icy ground.  
  
"Why?" Hannah heard herself whisper. She could not stop herself. Every feeling she had ever felt seemed to be pouring out from her mouth, between her teeth an gums, seeping on to the ground like a poison. "Why?" Hannah sobbed again, taking the dead soldier's fingers and placing his between hers. She gripped tightly, hoping against hope that they would grow warm again. This soldier was of no importance to her. She had absolutely no idea who he was, but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered. He had a family. A mother and a father. Maybe a wife. And it was gone, now gone.   
  
She pounded the ground with her free hand until it bled. When the cuts became too painful to bare, she slowly made her way over to the medical cabinets where grueling instruments glinted in the dull sunlight.  
  
Another explosion.  
  
More dead bodies.  
  
Any minute now, more soldiers would be in here, dead.  
  
Why?  
  
Using her own medical knowledge, she tended to her cuts with the same anxiety and same tools she had used on these soldiers. They were no different at all. But why did they have to die? Why did anybody have to die? Peace, that was all she wanted. And that's what she would get. Sooner or later, there had to peace. Without peace, there would be no war. And there was definitely war.   
  
Shards of a broken wand lay scattered next to her. Feeble sparks emitted from it, as if calling to it's owner. Master, where have you gone, the wand might be thinking. Master, where are you? Hannah smiled through the tears and picked up the wand and walked to the soldier who she believed it belonged to. The wand was burning her skin, as if wanting to be free, wanting to be with it's wizard. But her grip only tightened. She would not let go. When she reached the wizard, she placed the wand inside his curled, dead fingers. Once the wand was released, it grew cold. It had only needed to find peace with it's wizard, to finally grow cold.   
  
We all need to find peace, Hannah thought, continuing her walk through the maze of dead bodies. Her last days at Hogwarts were marred in her memory. All she remembered was that...nobody expected the Hufflepuffs to do anything. Nothing at all. Everyone accused her of being a wimp, a pussy. Hufflepuffs were excluded from classes because some of the teachers felt that they would not need this information. They would just hide during the war, wouldn't they?  
  
Susan ran away. Susan ran far away, and Hannah wished now that she would've followed. She remembered Harry Potter's happy face again and scowled. How dare he be happy when her housemates, her family!, were so unhappy. Nobody knew what they went through. But what they didn't know...is that Hufflepuffs would bring the war to an end. It would be them.  
  
An insane grin spread itself across Hannah's lips. Yes...it would be them. She felt herself drop to the ground again, but she did not pick herself up this time. She just laid there, staring at the ceiling of the tent, wondering where her family was.   
  
The next explosion was much closer to the tent this time. It was so close in fact that Hannah could feel the heat from the bomb. The cots shook and medical supplies fell from their cabinets, bursting, as if their own tiny bombs. Hannah was thrown from her spot on the floor to the edge of the tent. Another explosion. Too soon, too close. Dead bodies were thrown to the floor, littering it. A soldier landed in Hannah's arms.  
  
She cradled the wizard's head in her arms and held it close to her chest, a chest that still breathed and rose up and down. She smothered the head with her cheek and felt herself squeeze the soldier, knowing he would never squeeze back. The explosion this time was laced with screams. Horrible screams. Screams from victims, screams from Medi-Wizards, it would only be a matter of time before they were screaming for her, screaming for her help.  
  
Because, they had needed her help eventually. Gryffindors fought the war. Ravenclaws planned the attacks. And Slytherins betrayed and ended up on the otherside. But Hufflepuffs...Huflepuffs cared for the sick. When the fighting was too tough on a soldier, Hufflepuffs held their hand and encouraged them to fight. When Ravenclaws could not think of one more infiltration attack, Hufflepuffs listened and researched old history books for them.  
  
The explosions were closer and closer each time. Hannah held the dead soldier's body and started to coo. "It's okay..." Hannah started, closing her eyes and rocking the soldier's body back and forth. "The War will be over soon..."  
  
The tent jerked, but she did not shriek. More screams, and more heat. Her skin began to scream in protest. Why was she just sitting there, waiting for the bomb to drop?  
  
"We'll all go home," Hannah continued to the soldier, even though he couldn't hear her. Harry Potter's face flashed into her mind one last time and she smiled despite herself. "One of thes days...we will have peace at last..." 


End file.
